Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach says he's happy to mix up musical influences on his side-project Aliken – but he won’t go near aggressive metal.
He recently released a promo for Fade Into You – a track originally recorded by Californian outfit Mazzy Star in 1994. And he reveals he loves alternative music from that era.
He tells Rock 105.5: “That’s one of my favourite songs on the planet. I’m a big sucker for that 90s sort of alternative, gothy sound like Cocteau Twins and The Sundays. I grew up dating a punk-rock chick and she made me a mix tape with all of those groups on it. I thought it would be fun just to mix it up and do something different.
“There’s more to come. But not just reggae. I’m going to do rock ’n’ roll and some punk stuff. I’ve got a Minor Threat cover coming out soon. I don’t want to be boxed in so my solo stuff is going to be anything but metal – anything but aggressive.”
Leach recently hit out at fans who try and pigeonhole him as a metal singer – and he says he doesn’t care if people don’t like his solo output.
He adds: “I’m being an artist, I’m being true to who I am. If you don’t like it, I don’t care.”
Killswitch Engage are currently working on their upcoming album, the follow-up to 2013’s Disarm The Descent.
